Cupra Terramar Review 2025

A Terra what? Spanish racing fans will tell you that the Cupra Terramar is named after an old banked race circuit that sits to the west of Barcelona. It might seem a bit odd to name a family SUV after a race track, but then Cupra's whole 'sell' is to be seen as a sporty brand. And it probably makes more sense than naming something after a mash-up of Tiger and Iguana, a la VW Tiguan. How does it stack up as a family SUV? We'll find out in our Cupra Terramar review. 

The Cupra Terramar sits on the same platform as the latest Volkswagen Tiguan, but while VW has played it safe with the design of that car, the Terramar's styling is much more imposing for a family SUV, especially if you opt for one of the racier VZ models. The result is a car with a more aggressive aesthetic than its relative, with the bolder design following through to the interior. The metallic trim that's finished in the brand's copper hue stands out against the dark colour schemes of the Cupra Terramar's moodier finishes. 

What's similar to the Tiguan, though, is the level of tech and equipment on offer. You'll find a large infotainment touchscreen, loads of driver assistant tech and an array of other features as standard. And because it shares a similar footprint to the Tiguan, the Cupra Terramar does well in the practicality stakes as well, though the Tiguan edges it out here by a smidge.

With such sporty intentions, it won't come as a surprise to discover that there's no diesel option available with the Cupra Terramar. There are three petrol engines, ranging from a not-so-sporty 1.5-litre option with 150PS and mild hybrid tech, to a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine with 265PS that's been borrowed from the Volkswagen Golf GTI. 

On top of that, there are a couple of plug-in hybrid options, delivering just over 70 miles of electric range each, making them a good option for those doing regular, short journeys and have access to a charger of some sort. 

It's all well and good selling the sporty SUV lifestyle, but does the Cupra Terramar back this up on the road? To a point, yes. It's still a family SUV at the end of the day, but the handling is that bit sharper than a Tiguan, with precise steering that's really nicely weighted to deliver an enjoyable drive. 

You won't find a diesel in the Terramar range, but there's a decent range of petrol and plug-in hybrid options to choose from. 

The entry point in the range is the 1.5-litre petrol engine with 150PS. Badged eTSI, it comes with mild-hybrid tech to boost fuel economy and delivers a 0-62mph time of 9.3 seconds. 

If that sounds a little too sedate for your sporty SUV, then you might want to look at the more powerful 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 204PS available and four-wheel drive. This sees the 0-62 time come down to 7.1 seconds, but you'll want the more powerful 265PS 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine borrowed from the Volkswagen Golf GTI if you want something really quick. Again featuring four-wheel drive, this pushes you on to 62mph in as little a 5.9 seconds. 

If none of those tickle your fancy, then you've also got two PHEVs to choose from. Called e-Hybrid, both combine a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor, but come with different power outputs and performance figures.

The 204PS version has a modest 0-62mph time of 8.3 seconds, but working in its favour is the claimed range of up to 72 miles. With lots of rivals just creeping into the 50-mile bracket, it's a real bonus with the Cupra Terramar. 

Delivering the same official electric-only range but slightly quicker off the mark is the 272PS option. Now, when we say quicker, you might see that power number and expect it to beat the 265PS turbocharged petrol, but it's over a second slower at 7.3 seconds. This is down to the extra weight of the batteries onboard, and as such, it can feel a bit more leisurely to drive, but should be quicker enough for most customers.  

The Cupra Terramar was crash tested by safety organisation Euro NCAP and scored a full five stars. Drilling down the scores and it got high marks for adult occupant safety (89%), child occupant safety (87%) and for protection of vulnerable road users (82%).

The Terramar comes with seven airbags as standard, while it's also equipped with a range of semi-autonomous driver aids to help keep you safe. This includes automatic emergency braking, lane assist, dynamic road sign display and adaptive cruise control as standard across the range. Both V2 and VZ2 trims add a few more safety features - you benefit from an advanced driver alert system, advanced lane assist, traffic jam assist, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross traffic assist.

The Cupra Terramar can be specified with a collapsible tow bar, and while there's no diesel option, it's rated up to 1800kg when pulling a braked trailer in most cases. Both the 265PS petrol-engined and 272PS PHEV Terramars see this increase to 2000kg.

If you're trying to place the size of the Cupra Terramar, then with its dimensions of 4519mm long, 1863mm wide (without door mirrors) and 1584mm tall, it's similar in size to a VW Tiguan and a bit longer than a Volvo XC40 (though not quite as tall). 

That all means that it should suit a family of four. The sports seats up front are standard and hug you nicely, with the central console almost wrapping around you to make you feel properly snug and connected to the car. There's still a good amount of storage, too, with large door pockets and good-sized cupholders in the middle. 

How much space you have for passengers in the back is a little dependent on how much boot space you need. That's because the rear bench seat can be moved forward to create more boot space if you need it - the Cupra Terramar has a boot capacity of 540 litres when the seats are pushed back, but push them forward and this grows to 642 litres. That's a decent size and significantly more than the 454 litres provided by the Volvo XC40, but 10 litres down on the VW Tiguan. 

If you're looking at buying the plug-in hybrid version of the Cupra Terramar, then those figures are a little different due to the need to find somewhere to put the batteries to power the motors. As a result, boot space on a Cupra Terramar PHEV is between 400 and 490 litres, depending on the positioning of the rear seats. 

Back to the rear seating and with the bench seat pushed back and there's a generous amount for head and legroom - tall adults shouldn't feel squeezed in, but we'd avoid trying to get a third person in the back. It's certainly possible, but the seat's narrower and their legs will straddle the hump in the middle. Push the seats forward by 150mm, and you obviously lose out on legroom, but if it's going to be a family car, then those in car seats shouldn't really notice (and there are ISOFIX fastenings on the two outer seats).  

The quality of finish is one of the things that left a really good first impression on us - most of the materials in the front of the cabin feel really nice, especially at the key touch points. You'll notice plenty of squidgy cushioned surfaces rather than simply materials stuck on hard trim, while the various metallic elements add to the overall feel. 

The only slight disappointment is for those sitting in the back - look closer and the plastics aren't as plush as they are upfront. It certainly doesn't feel cheap, but a little bit of a letdown after the quality found upfront. 

Whatever trim you choose, all versions of the Cupra Terramar get the same infotainment system as standard. That means you get a large 12.9-inch touchscreen positioned front and centre of the Terramar's dashboard. The display itself has very good clarity and vibrant graphics, while it proved to be nice and responsive to our inputs.

The interface itself, though, does feel a bit cluttered and a little hard to navigate at first - you will spend time trying to track down some functions and settings. The climate control settings are also set via the touchscreen, and while we'd always prefer physical buttons to control this, the display is responsive enough to make it pretty easy to do on the move.

There's also all the other usual stuff - there's DAB, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which we envisage a lot of users taking advantage of, though the built-in sat nav is there if you need it. 

Supporting this large touchscreen is a 10.25-inch digital instrument display sat behind the steering wheel that shows key driving info and can be tailored to show different info - you can get turn-by-turn directions fed to the display if you wish, for example. 

Prices for the Cupra Terramar start at £38,995. That gets you the entry-level V1 model with the 150PS petrol engine. If you fancy the more powerful 204PS petrol, then it's a jump of almost £4500, while the 204PS PHEV is a further £1000 or so.

The move up to the V2 trim is just over £2500, but then you'll need to find a further £6000 to get the more sporty VZ1 model. The VZ1, though doesn't look like quite the steep increase it is - with the VZ1 not available with the lower-powered engines, you're straight into the pokey 265PS petrol engine, or for a couple of hundred pounds less, the 272PS plug-in hybrid. 

Sitting at the top of the range is the Terramar VZ2 that ticks over £50,000 for the 272PS PHEV, and just as we saw with the VZ1, the 265PS petrol is about £350 more. 

How does that compare to rivals? The closely related VW Tiguan starts at just over £38,000 and comes with the same 150PS petrol engine. There's a wide choice of trim and engine combinations, but as you move up the range, the cost of the Tiguan leapfrogs the Terramar. For example, an R-Line Tiguan with the 272PS plug-in hybrid is almost £48,500, putting it around £1000 more than a VZ1 Terramar. If you fancy the 265PS petrol in your Tiguan, you'll need the top-of-the-range Black Edition, which edges out the Terramar VZ2 by about £2000.

Looking further afield and the Volvo XC40 starts at just over £35,000 in Core trim, though in a Plus grade that's similar to a Terramar V1, it's pretty evenly matched price-wise. With only two engines to choose from, you're not going to be able to match the more powerful Terramar offerings, but an XC40 in Ultra spec and a 197PS petrol engine comes in at almost £44,000.

The most frugal petrol engine is the 1.5-litre 150PS offering that should average up to 47.1mpg according to official testing, while the four-wheel drive petrol engine with 204PS sees this dip to a more modest 37.7mpg. It goes without saying that the 265PS petrol engine in the Terramar VZ1 and VZ2 has fuel economy closer to that of a hot hatch, averaging just 33.6mpg

If fuel economy is your prime concern, then you need to look at one of the plug-in hybrid options - the 204PS model delivers 176.6mpg, while the 272PS offering is not far behind at 156.9mpg. As with other PHEVs, this comes with a caveat – to get anywhere near the number, you'll need to keep the battery topped up, so regular charging is essential. That said, the Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rate is only 6 and 9%.

As for car insurance and the eTSI petrol engine version starts in group 21, while the 265PS engine will set you back the most, falling into group 32.

There is a wide range of trim levels available with the Cupra Terrarmar, but which trim you can have is dependent on the engine that you want. 

The Cupra Terrarmar V1 is available with a 150PS petrol engines, a four-wheel drive 204PS petrol engine or a 204PS PHEV and comes with the following as standard:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• LED exterior lighting
• Automatic lights and wipers
• Heated and electrically foldable door mirrors
• Front-and rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Keyless entry and start
• Ambient interior lighting
• Three-zone climate control
• Heated leather steering wheel
• Bucket seats
• Powered tailgate
• Adaptive cruise control
• 12.9-inch touchscreen 

Next up is the Cupra Terrarmar V2, and is available with the same three engines as the V1, but comes with: 

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Heated bucket seats
• Head-up display
• Top-view camera

Jumping up to the Cupra Terrarmar VZ1 and the engine choice changes to the 265PS four-wheel drive petrol engine and the more powerful 272PS PHEV offering, while highlights include:

• Heated and powered front seats trimmed in faux-alcantara
• Self-adjusting high-definition HD Matrix headlights
• Dynamic chassis control adaptive suspension 

Sitting at the top of the range is the Cupra Terramar VZ2, and while it has the same engine choice as the VZ1, you get:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Heated and powered leather front seats
• Head-up display
• Top-view camera